Post-St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast: Waffles

Morning! Did you have an awesome St. Patrick’s Day like we did? Omg, you guys, I did an Irish Car Bomb last night! I haven’t done one of those since my study abroad trip in Denmark over 10 years ago! Our gracious party hosts served up a delicious shepherd’s pie, spinach dip, and Irish soda bread #yummy. Before the party, Mr. Foodie and I got home from work and flew into cooking mode – I boiled eggs for my first attempt at green deviled eggs and Mr. Foodie made the dough for his now famous homemade soft pretzels (I twisted them into the pretzel shapes because he doesn’t have the patience for it lol). I used my go-to recipe for deviled eggs, so all-in-all it was an easy cooking session. If you’re pressed for time or hosting, best to go with what you know so you can be fairly certain it will turn out well and you won’t end up having a mini pre-event meltdown because your frosting broke or your cheese soup ended up being a lump of wet cheese…not that I’m speaking from experience or anything 🙂

Our St. Patrick’s Day fun was a fairly responsible night of drinking and dancing, but I also got to connect with some family friends and ask them all what their top marital advice is since all of them have been married for at least two decades successfully. The roundup includes:

Never go to bed angry

Always say I love you and have a kiss before bed

Pay attention to the small things

Appreciate what you have or someone else will

There may have been more, but that is all I remember thanks to the car bomb. Interestingly, I have gotten wildly competing views on the “never go to bed angry” advice, but that in combination with the “always say I love you and kiss” appeals to me immensely. I like to think that Mr. Foodie and I wouldn’t be so angry at each other that we could go a whole night that way. Besides, I don’t sleep well if I don’t get my quality pillow-talk and cuddle time in before we turn the lights out. The advice that surprised me the most is “pay attention to the small things” because so often you hear the saying “don’t sweat the small stuff.” But the way my friend explained it, you should be aware of all the little things your partner does for you and, similarly, you shouldn’t neglect the little things that make life easier or happier for your beloved. Holding the door, making the coffee, saying “thank you” and “please.” After hearing the examples, it made complete sense to me. Marriage is largely about the small stuff. Grand romantic gestures are lovely, but they make a poor bedrock for a lifetime of monogamy. Using food as a metaphor, it’s like putting effort only into thanksgiving dinner and eating badly every other day of the year. Sure, you’re going to love that yearly dinner, but you’ll be miserable the other 364 days – that’s just not sustainable or even desirable.

This morning I was pleased to see that neither of us were suffering from a hangover, and I wanted to take advantage of having an entire day all to ourselves, so I made waffles! We received a waffle iron at the bridal shower last year, but my aunt also got us one for a wedding gift. The first one is the kind that lies flat and flips over. The second one stands straight up and you pour the batter into a hole at the top. Both make excellent waffles! I enjoyed trying the new one this morning – the upside is it comes with a measuring cup so each waffle is the same size, and there is no “overflow” like you often have with the flat iron. The challenge initially was getting the batter all the way down into the mold. My first two waffles ended up being 1/2 or 3/4 waffles, but eventually I got it to work right. When it comes to waffles, I am a major fan of using a box mix, but this morning I decided to make it from scratch. I even broke out our hand mixer (another shower gift!) to whip up the egg whites. You can, of course, make waffles without whipping egg whites, but this step does help you have a lighter, crispier texture. The recipe I used is from All Recipes and it is pretty basic. I took the advice of one of reviewers to whip the egg whites (and add two more whites than the recipe calls for). All Recipes is a good recipe resource because people write in with their notes and suggestions.